1886 action rebarreled to 33 wcf

[33wcfshooter]

Are the 1886 win. actions that were made in the 1890's (black powder era) that were converted to 33 WCF safe to use? I just got a 1890's '86 that was converted by winchester in 1906 to 33 WCF.The rifle has a new 33 WCF barrel a local smith put on so it has a good barrel of modern steel (headspace is ok and the action is tight).Since winchester did the conversion (I've seen a few of these over the years) and they were used with full factory loads the actions must be ok for 33 smokeless pressures. The loads I am looking at using are 205 gr. cast with 24 grs. IMR 4198 -1650 fps. and a 200 gr. jacketed load with 33.3 grs. IMR 3031-1700 fps. lighter starting level loads to keep pressure down. I have used heavier loads in my factory '86 33 WCF made in 1910 but it has the smokeless frame but I don't know about the older frame on this one. Any information is greatly appreciated.

[Malamute]

Mike D would likely know a bit about this question, but he's off hunting for a while. He's mentioned early guns rebarreled to 33 before.

I believe you'll be OK, especially with your light loads. The action isnt so much the weak link as the barrel. Most (edit: actually ALL the failures I've heard of in Winchester levers have been barrel first failures)"failures" are the barrel letting go. "Safe" as in safe to shoot? I'd say yes. If anything, the early action may loosen up a little sooner with 33 loads, but I wouldnt think it's a given. I wouldn't worry much about shooting it with standard 33 loads, but wouldnt run the velocity up any over factory levels.

[33wcfshooter]

I got an e-mail back from Turnbull Rest. and turns out there is no problem as long as the barrel was replaced with a modern steel one,as the action is tight and headspace is alright. Said that the actions even on the older frames were fine and winchester tested and offered this conversion in the early 1900's and even up did some into the 1950's after the cartridge was discontinued (guess shells were still on the shelves).I also talked to Warren Newman at Cody and he said the records show alot of '86's were returned for unspecified work in the early 1900's.It seems that the idea is they were converted to 33 WCF or 45-70 as most of the factory black powder rounds were falling and everyone wanted the new smokeless cartridges.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Bolt thrust is the real culprit. I would think that if an action can handle a 50-100 cartrige with a 450 grain bullet it should easily be able to take a standard pressure 33 Winchester load.
Plus my books show that one of the origonal chamberings was 33 WCF.

[Mike D.]

The simple answer is yes, the conversion to .33 WCF with the older framed '86s works fine. Many hundreds of pre-1902 guns were rebarreled by Winchester to the hot new smokeless round after it's introduction. The replacement of the mild steel barrel with a new nickel steel barrel was the only requirement to make the change. Some guns had the bolt replaced with a newer one that had the smaller firing pin, but many were not. The older black powder pin held up well enough. .33 WCF barrels were available from Winchester into the 1960s. These were Winchester Proof Steel barrels that had the ramp like the 71s. Sadly, the remaining stock of barrels was used as "rebar" in concrete during expansion work.

[KirkD]

(edit: actually ALL the failures I've heard of in Winchester levers have been barrel first failures)

That is my observation as well. The chamber part of the barrel seems to be the weakest link. Replace the barrel with a strong nickle-steel one and it seems to me that you have strengthened the weakest link.